50p
A Tour of the East
The only way to accurately describe the Eastern Canada University Tour would be to compare it to a summer storm. It starts and finishes so shockingly fast, but there is a certain substance to the experience: the rain is full and thick, the roar of the thunder shakes your chest, and there is joy and fear in the flash of lightning. For a short while, these things become a whole new world. Then the rain fades, and the clouds blow away, but the knowledge of what happened leaves a strong impression.
This is exactly what the tour felt like. To see fifteen universities in six days, across four provinces, was the definition of a whirlwind trip. On the evening of the 26th of October, twenty-eight Brentwood students, and their two chaperones, Mr. Rodrigues and Mrs. Coull, left the familiarity of Brentwood’s campus to catch a red eye flight from Victoria to the strange and exciting campuses of universities in the East. The plane touched down in Toronto at 5:45 a.m. Eastern time, and before the group had time to catch its breath, we were heading by motor coach to our first stop at Queens University in Kingston. where several old Brentonians, who are currently studying there, were waiting to welcome us to their new home. After the tour of the campus, the group shared a lunch with our hosts. It was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip, to catch a glimpse into the lives that Brentwood students live after they graduate was insightful.
The group’s time with them was brief, and again the coach was off to Ottawa. After a visit to Carleton, the group checked into the hotel, and got some free time to explore the nation’s capital. Students went out for dinner in small groups, and then wandered the city and took in some of the famous sights like Parliament Hill. The next morning, after a quick breakfast, the group wandered through the city to the University of Ottawa, and then took the long bus ride to Montreal to see McGill and Concordia, as well as another evening enjoying one of Canada’s most beautiful cities. The trip would continue with much the same schedule: early mornings and travel to and from the universities. There truly was an astonishing amount to see.
In the Maritimes, the group experienced all extremes of weather. Beautiful sunshine on the campuses of Acadia and Dalhousie, a torrential downpour and heavy winds at Saint Francis Xavier and Mount Alison, as well as a blizzard which delayed our flight from Moncton to Toronto managed to keep things interesting. Not that the group really needed more excitement; our heads were constantly filled with knowledge of dormitory styles, campus safety, impressive library collections, varsity and intramural sports, traditions, and class sizes.
Those are facts can also be learned from any university’s website. The true knowledge that came from the tour was of a different kind. It was more real. The group got to see the campuses and learn about them from a student’s perspective. This was particularly easy when previous Brentwood graduates attached themselves to the tour groups, and they shed light on how things compared to Brentwood and what things they loved in particular about their universities.
On the tour there is a certainty that comes over students when they arrive at particular universities. It can be glimpsed in their excited questions, or the way they fawn over architecture or sports complexes. It is different for everyone, and maybe it comes from a love of the playing fields, or the cities, or the programs, but it is the beginning of the knowledge that this could be their home for the next four years. This is where they want to be. This is where they want to continue learning. It is certainty what the Eastern University Tour affords Brentwood students, and it is one of the most important aspects of choosing a university.
The group’s lead chaperone, Mr. Rodrigues, a physics teacher and university counselor, has been running the trip for nearly a decade and the opportunity that it grants the students is limitless. Many thanks to him and Mrs. Coull for giving up their midterm holiday to shepherd us from coast to coast. We really appreciate it! The group sees towns and cities that some of them had never seen before, gets to wander and explore, and receives a thorough education of Eastern universities, and after seeing fifteen in such little time, some may say they got too thorough an education. While there may have been some exhausted griping as the group approached its final day, the positive memories and outcomes of the odyssey will long outlast the whirlwind pace.
This is exactly what the tour felt like. To see fifteen universities in six days, across four provinces, was the definition of a whirlwind trip. On the evening of the 26th of October, twenty-eight Brentwood students, and their two chaperones, Mr. Rodrigues and Mrs. Coull, left the familiarity of Brentwood’s campus to catch a red eye flight from Victoria to the strange and exciting campuses of universities in the East. The plane touched down in Toronto at 5:45 a.m. Eastern time, and before the group had time to catch its breath, we were heading by motor coach to our first stop at Queens University in Kingston. where several old Brentonians, who are currently studying there, were waiting to welcome us to their new home. After the tour of the campus, the group shared a lunch with our hosts. It was one of the most memorable experiences of the trip, to catch a glimpse into the lives that Brentwood students live after they graduate was insightful.
The group’s time with them was brief, and again the coach was off to Ottawa. After a visit to Carleton, the group checked into the hotel, and got some free time to explore the nation’s capital. Students went out for dinner in small groups, and then wandered the city and took in some of the famous sights like Parliament Hill. The next morning, after a quick breakfast, the group wandered through the city to the University of Ottawa, and then took the long bus ride to Montreal to see McGill and Concordia, as well as another evening enjoying one of Canada’s most beautiful cities. The trip would continue with much the same schedule: early mornings and travel to and from the universities. There truly was an astonishing amount to see.
In the Maritimes, the group experienced all extremes of weather. Beautiful sunshine on the campuses of Acadia and Dalhousie, a torrential downpour and heavy winds at Saint Francis Xavier and Mount Alison, as well as a blizzard which delayed our flight from Moncton to Toronto managed to keep things interesting. Not that the group really needed more excitement; our heads were constantly filled with knowledge of dormitory styles, campus safety, impressive library collections, varsity and intramural sports, traditions, and class sizes.
Those are facts can also be learned from any university’s website. The true knowledge that came from the tour was of a different kind. It was more real. The group got to see the campuses and learn about them from a student’s perspective. This was particularly easy when previous Brentwood graduates attached themselves to the tour groups, and they shed light on how things compared to Brentwood and what things they loved in particular about their universities.
On the tour there is a certainty that comes over students when they arrive at particular universities. It can be glimpsed in their excited questions, or the way they fawn over architecture or sports complexes. It is different for everyone, and maybe it comes from a love of the playing fields, or the cities, or the programs, but it is the beginning of the knowledge that this could be their home for the next four years. This is where they want to be. This is where they want to continue learning. It is certainty what the Eastern University Tour affords Brentwood students, and it is one of the most important aspects of choosing a university.
The group’s lead chaperone, Mr. Rodrigues, a physics teacher and university counselor, has been running the trip for nearly a decade and the opportunity that it grants the students is limitless. Many thanks to him and Mrs. Coull for giving up their midterm holiday to shepherd us from coast to coast. We really appreciate it! The group sees towns and cities that some of them had never seen before, gets to wander and explore, and receives a thorough education of Eastern universities, and after seeing fifteen in such little time, some may say they got too thorough an education. While there may have been some exhausted griping as the group approached its final day, the positive memories and outcomes of the odyssey will long outlast the whirlwind pace.
75p
